thankful thursday...

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matt 6:28-34

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Cor. 9:7

this thankful thursday is all about God's provisions and answered prayers. my cbs bible study recently challenged me to get specific in my prayer requests, just as isaac's servant did when he went on his search for rebekah. so i started praying for specific needs we had at our house...some big and some small and God has worked wonders! but i tell you, it didn't come without having to first let go of our finances...that is, giving Him our first fruits of labor each month.

the first prayer was that chris's student loan would be forgiven within the month. for those of you who don't know, the federal gov will forgive certain teachers of their student loans if they teach for 5 years in a title 1 school in a specific field. since he has taught in a title 1 school for 5 years, we applied for his loan to be forgiven and at first it was denied because they lost part of his paper work. so we tried again, and this time i prayed specifically that it be forgiven and asked that it go away in the month of january. one week after starting this prayer we got this paper in the mail...

i opened it and began crying and then immediately called chris to tell him the good news! what a weight lifted off of us financially. that was basically like a monthly pay raise! praise GOD!!

the second prayer is kind of petty but i recently borrowed some very cute maternity clothes from a great friend and she gave me so many things that would look so cute with brown boots. i warned you this was petty. so i went on a search for brown boots but since its the end of the season and i wear probably the most common female shoe size, 8, i have had no luck. so earlier this week, i started praying for God to help me find some boots at a good price. then i received this package in the mail today from an amazing friend...

i cannot describe to you how cool it is for God to meet this little, petty need of mine. it truly made me feel cared for by my Savior. it is awesome that He is a God that knows all of our thoughts and desires and cares about meeting our needs.

i know that He will continue to prove Himself faithful throughout this season in our lives...as we strive to make it on one paycheck. and every month He increases my faith more and more and it has truly caused me to be a cheerful giver...for i know that nothing we have comes from our own work but from God alone. so i challenge you to pray for God to show you how much He desires from you and then watch Him work to provide all of your needs with the rest.